In June of 2009, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers took the NBA championship.
It was Bryant and Pau Gasol who headlined the feat.
The duo’s friendship is still talked about and highlighted to this day. Gasol manages to tear up when thinking about their time together before Bryant’s death in 2020.
“It’s a great partnership, great relationship,” Gasol said on The Why with Dwyane Wade. “Kinda two players that got on the same page and shared some amazing stuff on and off the floor. He’s a unique brother, unique person, unique teammate who definitely took me to another level. [He] showed me what greatness looks like and the seriousness of his approach to the game. This [picture] is a moment of joy after losing the ‘08 Finals against the Celtics. Winning ‘09 was sweet. It was my first championship, it was his first championship without Shaq. It was very meaningful to him. That’s why I was straight to the Lakers to help him and that team do that.”
Bryant was named the Finals MVP after averaging 32.4 points, 7.4 assists and 5.6 rebounds in 5 games.
Gasol wasn’t the only one on Wade’s podcast to reminisce on Bryant’s legacy.
Hall of Famer Tony Parker joined the conversation and talked about Bryant’s ability to smack talk, but let’s take it a step further and do it in a different language.
“When I got drafted, all the Spurs talked about was how we have to beat the Lakers… because they were on their way to do the three-peat,” Parker said. “So my rookie year, we played the Lakers in the semi-finals. I played well in that series — and Kobe spoke Italian, as you know — so he said some stuff but it was like not really good and I said, ‘Maybe don’t even talk French.’ The year after, we played them again in the playoffs and he was talking straight trash to me in French and I was like ‘Man, you learned French that fast!’”
